jackson



W. W. JACKSON.

BRUSH FOR'VACUUM CLEANERS. APPLICATION FILED AUG-30, I918- RENEWED AUG-I2. 1920.

Patented Oct. 19, 1920-.

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WALTER W. JACKSON, OF SEWAREN', NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE REGINACOMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

BRUSH FOR VACUUM-CLEANERS.

Patented Oct. 19, 1920.

Original application filed December 6, 1915, Serial No. 65,213. Dividedand this application filed August 30,1918, Serial No. 252,008. RenewedAugust 12, 1920. Serial No. 403,147.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER W. JAoKsoN, a citizen of the United States,residin at Sewaren, county of Middlesex, State of i ew Jersey, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Brushes; for Vacuum-Cleaners,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to vacuum or suction cleaners, and moreparticularly to port- .able power driven cleaners, for floors and thelike, of the type comprising a casing in which is contained a fan orequivalent suction device, driven by an electric motor, and providedwith an elongated nozzle and slot adapted to be brought closely adjacentto the floor as the casing is pushed thereover; the throat of saidnozzle having therein a brush arranged to contact or to be revolved incontact with the surface to be cleaned so as to loosen the nap of thefabric and any attached dirt or fibers, or to loosen the dirt upon thefloor when the same is not covered by fabric, thereby facilitating thesucking up of said dirt and fibers into the dust receptacle withwhichthe cleaner is also provid ed. But the invention is also applicable tovacuum cleaners which are not motor driven. v

This application is a division of my earlier application, Serial No.65,213, filed December 6, 1915, entitled Vacuum cleaners.

It is the object of my invention to provide a suction cleaner of thecharacter specified with a brush so constructed and so placed withreference to the slot in which it operates that dirt and particularlyfibers do not end to be driven into or to remain attached to the brush,but are subjected to the action of a forcible current of air whichdetaches them therefrom and sweeps them into the dust receptacle.

Other objects of my invention will ,appear as the specificationproceeds.

The invention resides in the special features of construction to behereinafter described and which are set forth in the claims.

My invention will be better understood by referring to the accompanyingdrawings which show my improved brush embodied in a typical cleaner,only so much of the mechanism and details of the cleaner being shown asis necessary to a clear understanding of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents an end elevation (partly a centralvertical section) through a cleaner provided with a cal casing,preferably of aluminum, 1 contains an axially mounted electric motor 2having a fan 3 rigidly fixed upon the extended motor shaft in front ofthe motor. That section 4 of the cylindrical casing which inoloses thefan, is provided in front with a central opening 5 over which is formeda cover 6 the lower part of which is shaped as an elongated transversenozzle having a bottom slot or throat opening 7. The opening 7 is ofsubstantial width and in it is mounted the revoluble brush 8 which formsthe subject matter of this invention.

- On each side of the casing 1, at the rear thereof, and also inrearward extensions of the nozzle at each end thereof, are mounted pairsof wheels 9, 9, upon which the casing is adapted to be moved back andforth over the surface to be cleaned by means of a handle 10 having afork 10 whose ends are pivoted upon the axles of the rear wheels 9.

The forward wheels 9', one or both of which (one in the drawings) arepreferably covered with rubber to increase the tractive effect, areloosely mounted upon a transverse shaft 11' the ends of which are fixedeccentrically in cylindrical hubs 12 which are rotatably fitted in therearward extensions of the nozzle ends. One end of the shaft is providedwith a crank member 13, on the outside of the nozzle, by means of whichthe hubs may be. revolved so as to raise or lower the shaft 11, and,therefore, the wheels 9, thus bringing the opening 7 of the nozzlenearer to or farther from the floor surface. A ratchet wheel 14, havingteeth adapted to engage a spring locking member 15 attached to the rearof the nozzle, is fixed upon one of the eccentric hubs so that, as thecrank member 13 is used to The brush 8 is provided with a shaftione endof which is carried at one end of an inwardly sprung resilient arm 16,while the other end of the arm is pivoted upon shaftend, into anotherslot at a right angle thereto. Ordinarily a pin 18, fixed to the casing,and engaging slot 17, and the last named slot are in line so that thebrush is freely movable up and down in accordance with any inequalitiesof floor surface over which the cleaner nozzleis moved. The other end ofthe brush shaft terminates in a disk having a diametral slot 19 intowhich keys a suitable stub shaft mounted in a gear case 20 and driventhrough a chain of gears from a gear fixed upon one end of shaft 11, allthese gears (not shown) being inclosed within the gear case. The gearcase 20 is itself pivotally mounted upon shaft 11. By bringing slot 1'1and pin 18 into line and springing arm 16 outwardly, the adjacent end ofthe brush is released so that its other end can be withdrawn from thestub shaft and the entire brush removed for cleaning or re-- placement.

Idler wheels 21 are loosely mounted upon each end of the brush shaft andsupport said shaft in fixed relation to the floor during the operationofthe machine.

1 The construction of the brush is as folows:

A hub 22, preferably of wood, extends for substantially the full lengthbetween the wheels 21 and has a. diameter such that a comparativelynarrowspace exists between the front and back of the hub and the frontand back inner wall surfaces respectively of the nozzle throat 7.

Undulatory or wave-like grooves 23 are cut in this hub lengthwisethereof; these grooves are uniformly spaced about the hub. In the bottomof these grooves are set bristles 24 of the brush, the ends of thesebristles extending radially outward beyond the surface of the hub. Asshown in Fig. 3, each longitudinal set of bristles is arranged as aplurality of tufts but the bristles of each set may also be arrangeduniformly from end to end of the hub, if desired, or in any other usualway. 7

Instead of undulatory grooves I may use straight grooves if I so desire.

A dust box or receptacle (not shown) attaches in the usual way to thepipe connectlons 25 opening from casing section 4 containing the fan.

The operation of my invention is as follows v The motor circuit beingclosed, motor and fan are rapidly revolved and air is drawn through theopening 7 and past the brush 8 into the fan chamber and out through pipeconnection 25. The machine being wheeled back and forth over the flooror the sursame direction as that in which the machine is being pushed.Owing to the narrow gaps which exist between the front and back of thehub and the wall surfaces of the throat 7, the air passes through thesegaps and over the ends of the brushes at very high velocity.Furthermore, since but the outer end of the brushes extend beyond thehub, the air is prevented from flowing through the body of the bristleseither transversely or radially inward and is compelled, instead, to

pass over the bristle'ends substantially at right angles to the lengthof the bristles. s a consequence, any fragments of dust or refusewhich-have been picked up and retained by the bristles are blowntherefrom instead of being forced farther into the body of the bristles,andthey are then swept through. the casing and into the dust receptacle.The brush is, therefore, kept clean at all times instead of beinggradually made inoperative by reason of accumulation of foreign mattertherein.

A further important function of the enlarged hub is, inthe case offibers sufiiciently long to reach from one-longitudinal set of bristlesto another, that said fibers are kept pushed from the hub of the brushby the strips in such a way that the How of air through the brush isenabled to get on the under side of the fibers and push them away fromthe brush. With a hub of usual diameter and bristles set directlytherein and extending therefrom, such fibers are apt to be drawn orforced up against the hub where the air can only reach their outsidesurfaces and as a result the flow. of air through the bristles has theeffect of massing successive fibers against the hub rather than ofremoving them therefrom.

The brush may be removed for thorough cleaning by inserting the fingerin the nozzle opening and pressing the arm 16 outwardly, as is madepossible by slot 17 and pin 18; this will release the ends of the brushshaft.

Fig. 4.- shows a modified form of my improved brush in which the groovescontainingthe bristle tufts are discontinuous, being equ1valented, infact, by a series of individual sockets in the bottom of each of whichis set an individual bristle tuft, the walls of the sockets being spacedfrom the tufts. The operationof this form of brush is exactly the sameas that of the brush first described. 1

While I have described a preferred and one relative form of my improvedbrush, other forms may be made within the spirit of the invention andthe scene of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a vacuum cleaner provided with a nozzle having an elongated throatand a bottom opening adapted to be moved adj acent to the floor, arotatable brush within the throat, said brush comprising a hub narrowlyspaced from the wall surfaces of the throat, and having radial recessesformed therein, bristles spaced from the walls of the recesses andextending outwardly. beyond the peripheral surface of the hub, beingseated in the bottom of said re- CGSSGS.

narrowly spaced from the wall surfaces of the throat and havinglongitudinal grooves formed therein, bristles spaced from the walls ofthe recesses and extending outwardly beyond the peripheral surface ofthe hub, being seated in the bottom of said recesses.

3. In a vacuum cleaner provided with a nozzle having an elongated throatwhich has a bottom opening adapted to be moved adjacent to the floor, arotatable brush within the throat, said brush comprising a hub havingrecesses symmetrically spaced about the periphery thereof and bristlesin said recesses spaced from the walls thereof, the inner ends of saidbristles being set in the bottoms of the recesses and the outer endsextending beyond the peripheral surface of the hub.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

WALTER w. JACKSON.

